Silent Devotion
by FrenchPostcards
Summary: When Eleanor Lovett's long lost love returns memories from her past return with him.


**CHAPTER ONE**

London, September 1846

Nellie has woken up to yet another gloomy morning in the city of London, another day of loneliness, torture and brooding for her long lost love. Benjamin Barker. Every time she thought of his name she swore she felt her heart tear apart a little more. It has been fifteen years, yet she can still remember what he looked like, she had no pictures of him, due to marrying the late Albert Lovett, whom she had no such feelings for. She tries so hard to tell herself that he is gone, and will never be coming back. But it's like he's still here, his presence will always linger. The poison was in her wounds, and they will never heal. She has no power over herself.

She makes her way over to her bedroom window, her white creased nightgown trailing behind her and her tangled mess of red hair draped over her shoulders. She lets her finger nails scrape on the wood of the windowsill as she looks out at Fleet Street below her. Workmen pull carts full of products to be sold at the market and whores still stand watching passing men with eager eyes. Nellie turns away from the window and tries to focus on her previous thoughts. She thinks about his cheekbones, his lips and his hair while she dresses herself in the clothing she has had for years, the colours were fading and the fabric was ripped. There is no other man in the world that could be as beautiful as him, she tells herself this every day. There will be no other owner of her fragile heart, but for all she knows Benjamin Barker may no longer be living, and if he doesn't live Eleanor Lovett knows she will be alone for the rest of her life. Forever devoting herself to a lost soul.

Her pie shop will be quiet today, no change there. She opens the net curtains to see that it has gotten lighter, and that bloody dog that circles the shop every morning for leftovers from last night. "God please let there be some venerable sailors about today" anything to get some money to pay her depts. She could go against everything she believed in and skin a few felines for better meat, but she had to be more desperate than this. Besides, she would never stoop to Mrs Mooney's level, popping pussies into pies.

She goes back to her cockroach infested workplace and starts preparing the dough for her god awful pies when an unexpected customer opens the door. "A customer!" she gasps, practically throwing her rolling pin aside to greet the silhouetted man who just took a step into her shop. "You gave me such a fright! Thought you was a ghost!" she says with her thick cockney accent while making her way to him. "Why don't you si-"she freezes. Her whole body stiffens, her heart batters against her rib cage as she realises whose eyes she is looking into. "Ben" it comes out as a tiny whisper. He doesn't seem to hear her as he walks past her. Nellie's eyes follow him, her mouth halfway open in shock. She closes the door with her eyes still glued on the man who was looking around her pie shop. She studied every inch of him, he had the same dark eyes, the same lips but something about him looked different, dangerous in fact. His skin was pure white like porcelain and his hair was pitch black with one single white streak. He turned his face to her and she somehow managed to snap out of the trance of being reunited with the man she loved. "Why don't we go into the front room, I'll get you a tumbler of gin" her voice sounded weak and pathetic but she couldn't blame herself. The man nodded and followed her into a small room accompanied by an old dusty piano, a sitting area and a coal fire. The woman nattered on about the price of her wallpaper while the man studied the room. "You've got room over the shop, if times are so hard why don't you rent it out?" he asks. Nellie turns her head sideways to look at him with wide eyes, his voice, like his appearance has changed. "Up there? No, no. People think it's haunted" she tells him while handing him his drink. "Haunted?"

Then it hit her, he doesn't even know anything about the terrible fate of his own wife and daughter. "Sit down love". They both sat in the sitting area in front of the roaring fire. "A few days after they sent you away Lucy was invited to a masquerade at judge Turpin's house she struggled to tell him what happened next, she didn't know how to tell him, but she saw how inpatient he was getting. "He raped her, love". She could see his eyes filling with tears. Nellie closed her own because she couldn't bear seeing him in so much pain. "Where is she?" his voice was so quiet, like a whisper. "She's gone" she says as she turns her face away from him. "The poor thing went mad, who could blame her? What that bastard did to her. I tried to stop her, I swear love. She spent her days crying her eyes out until she finally gave in. Arsenic it was" She took a moment so he didn't have to take in all the devastating news at once. "As for your girl, Turpin has her. Raised her as his own". After a few seconds Nellie looked over to him. He had his head in his hands, his fingernails digging into his scalp. Nellie's eyes started to fill up with tears. "Oh god Ben it's been so long". He stood up. "No!" he screamed. He takes his leather jacket off and throws it in the corner. "Fifteen years sweating in a living hell. Fifteen years dreaming that I might come home to a wife and child. Benjamin Barker? No. That man is dead. Its Todd now, Sweeney Todd, and he will have his revenge."

* * *

Nellie opens the door to the abandoned room above her shop, her breath quickens as she walks in what seemed colder than it was outside. Behind her Mr Todd seemed somewhat frightened. "Come in love. Nothing to be scared of" she couldn't help but give him a flirtatious look. He steps in and scans the room. "You can start your business again here, I know it's nothing special but it's better than nothing". Sweeney remembers how bright and beautiful it used to look, with his wife and child sitting in the chair, smiling at him. "It's fine". Nellie gives him a little smile. "Of course all the old furniture was taken but you can use Albert's old chair and-"she turns around and kneels to the floor. Sweeney lifts the blanket in his daughter's old crib to reveal a doll riddled with grime and dust. He heard the baker removing the floorboards so he turned to see what she was doing; she retrieved a familiar looking box that was dear to Sweeney fifteen years ago. "I hid them when they came for the girl. Could of sold them but I didn't" She handed the box to him as he kneeled in front of her. "I just want you to know love; I'm here to help you". He ignored her and opened the box revealing six beautiful silver razors. Sweeney looked at them in fascination; Nellie looked at him in the same way. He took one out carefully, got on his feet and raised his razor so that it would shine in the light. "My friends" he whispers. Mrs Lovett also gets on her feet and wraps her arms around him while his eyes are still locked on his silver tool. She looked up at him; he had a menacing grin and a crazed look in his eyes, ready to pounce on the man who ruined his life, completely oblivious to the woman's tender affections. Her face finds his neck; she breathes in the scent of his cologne and listens to the rhythm of his heartbeat. Her fingers traced an invisible pattern beneath his shoulder blade as she placed a kiss on his jaw. This was her way of telling him how much she missed him, how long she craved for his body next to hers. "Finally, finally you've come home" she whispers. Sweeney looks down at the petite woman caressing him so openly. "Leave me". His voice was cold and emotionless. She gives him one last loving look before leaving him in peace.


End file.
